Noir Backstage
by SwordSkill
Summary: Behind the celluloid and the voice-overs exists a world that is different and the same. Heck, what's reality anyway. XD "All the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players..."


**A/N:** If anyone is familar with the 2nd volume of the _Batman: Black and White_ comic book that was published in 1996, there's an eight-page story there written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Simon Bisley called "A Black and White World." If you've read that, a lot of points in this fic would sound very familiar. Also, there's going to be a scene from the Noir series involved here; it can be found in Episode 17. My copy had been the Soldats fansub.

**Noir Backstage**

The door opened and closed. Two black boots had walked in. Somebody looked up from the desk.

"Good morning, Chloe." A rustle of paper. "Here's your call list."

"Thanks, Kumiko." Chloe was tying her black hair with a scrunchie. She took the sheet of paper with her free hand from the girl with the huge eyeglasses and the starched blouse. "Am I up?"

Kumiko was already back at her laptop, typing like mad. "Nope. Mr. Tsukimura isn't finished with Kirika yet."

"All right."

Mireille spotted Chloe and gave a small wave.

"Aren't we supposed to be in full costume already?" asked Mireille as Chloe parted her cloak to sit beside her on the sofa.

"I can't find my wig."

"Ryoei is going to kill you."

"_I know_. And that was the last one Costumes had." Chloe lifted her legs to rest on the table. "Anyway they sent someone to buy one but I don't think they're going to find a store open this early in the morning." She looked gloomily at the steel buckles on her boots. "I hate early shoots."

"Mm. I fell asleep during make-up again." Mireille flicked her hair behind her shoulder, looking at the wall clock. "Poor Kirika."

"How long have they been in there?"

"Ten minutes already, I think. It's a re-take of Kirika from a scene we had yesterday; should take just three minutes or so. But you know Ryoei."

"I know he's going to hang me for losing his last wig."

"Never mind, he'll get over it. Once I broke both my stilettos when we were filming outside the studio during crunch time. He was halfway turning from red to purple, then he decided to just take close-ups of us and wrap it up."

"Oh yeah, how's Kirika? She still working on that high school correspondent course?"

"Constantly. She's doing trigonometry now. Studies between scenes."

"Wow."

"She asked me what cosecant was again and I thought it was a perfume brand."

"Not a math fan?"

"Math's not too fond of me either."

"I was supposed to study engineering after high school. So when I told my folks that I wanted to go into the animation industry, my brother laughed, my dad almost swallowed his chopsticks, and Mom just _yelled_ while doing the Heimlich on Dad. Something about the fickleness of public taste and getting trapped in the gossip and scandals of fan communities and having stories made up about you..." She broke off as her cloak vibrated. "'Scuse me. Must be my wig." She pawed beneath the folds, fished out a cellphone, and answered it. There was a big grin on her face when she slipped the phone back and it disappeared.

"Wow." Mireille's eyebrows were up. "Wish my skirt was big enough to do that. Unfortunately, the producers here in Bee Train like me having lots of leg room."

Chloe was exultant. "That was Costumes. They said Altena found my wig in the restrooms and brought it back to them. Someone's bringing it over."

"How _is_ Altena? I haven't seen her for while."

"Oh." Chloe cleared her throat. "That's because she's been out of the script for a while. Just between you and me, she's not exactly very happy about it. Said she was going to take it up with Ryoei."

"Is she?"

"Uh-huh. Plus she's not happy about her actual lines either. She said the writer sounded like he had been in the middle of a flower-power trance when he wrote them."

"Talking about lines, we're in this scene together, aren't we? Want to do a run-through?"

"Sure." A script appeared from Chloe's cloak as Mireille pulled hers and a pair of glasses from the table. "You start."

Mireille slipped her glasses on. "OK. So I've just killed this guy called...well, he doesn't have a name. Random Soldat guy again. He's on the ground. I look at him, holding my gun, then drop to my knees. You're behind me, so I turn around, look at you warily, still holding the gun, and...'Chloe!' Then pause. 'This man is..?'"

"Then I say 'To kill anyone who tries to open the seal to Corsica's past. That was his duty,' while hiding my mouth behind the cloak. For the nth time."

" 'And, you?' "

" 'I do not assist in his duty. I also don't interfere.' _Still_ hiding my mouth."

" 'Then why are you here? Don't tell me you're here for sight-seeing.' Do the writers know how cliche the sight-seeing bit is?"

" 'Corsica is a special place for me. To me.. and to that child.' "

" ' That child? You mean Kirika?' "

" 'Yes.' Pause. 'She and I are special. She and I are the True Noir.' "

"Pause. 'Kirika is...' Pause. "...the True Noir?' This Kirika being the True Noir thing is new, right?"

Chloe squinted an eye. "I think so. Though I think it was mentioned during one of my scenes with Altena. Can't remember. Sounds familiar all the same. Anyway...'I would like to tell you something.' "

" 'I'm listening.' "

" 'When she decides to return,' yadda yadda yadda, 'will be me.' "

"Small smile or something to that effect. 'And if I say no?' "

" 'I will kill you.' _Who_ wrote this? The guy who did Gundam Wing?"

"Gasping."

" 'I'm considering that I would like to be your friend.' Oh. Great. So I'm schizophrenic too."

"Prolongs the word as if in disbelief. OK, prolonging...'Frie-end?' "

" 'Well, aren't you her friend?' Pause. 'Yes. I'm sure we can be.' I finally reveal my mouth in a smile. 'You are definitely Soldats' child.' Then I leave."

"Long pause. Gasp. Another long pause. Then 'Soldat's...,' pause, '...child.' End scene." Mireille set the script down. "Short lines, and not exactly the most brilliant, but it's supposed to be a pivotal scene."

Chloe snorted. "Which means yet another Ryoei-patented pep talk about 'let-the-voice-be-the-emotion' and 'imagine-that-you-are-nothing-but-body-language.' I'd like to be something more than just body language, thank you very much. It sounds kinda obscene."

The back door opened and Kirika stormed towards the water-cooler.

"You guys finally done?" asked Mireille as she removed her glasses and rummaged through her purse for her contact lenses.

Kirika downed a Dixie cup vengefully. "Twenty minutes in Set 5 trying to get my eyes 'more expressive.' I think my eyes are traumatized now."

The front door of the room opened and a man in a suit came in with a purple mass of hair in hand. "Someone miss this?"

"My wig!" Chloe jumped up and flew at him.

Mireille was blinking, contacts case in hand. "There's nothing like the reunion of wig and mistress."

"At least I don't have to dye my hair blonde everyday," retorted Chloe as she adjusted the wig on her head, smoothing some of the spikes. She turned to the man. "Nice scar."

"Thanks. Are we next?"

"You're with us?"

"Yep. I'm the guy Mireille's going to kill today."

The back door opened again and a crewman's head with a baseball cap stuck out, his fingers on the the edge of the door. "Mireille, Chloe, Martin, they're ready for you. Set 13."

- -

The gun fell to the floor with a dull clank.

His chest was the first to hit the ground. Then his hands came next and everything else followed. His scar was as distinct as ever.

Mireille stood behind him, eyes lowered, gun raised. Then her shoulders drooped and she sank to her knees like a dead weight, her eyes closing in exhaustion. Her chin dropped to her chest and a small groan escaped from her lips.

A moment passed. Then she opened her eyes and spun, propping herself with her knees into a stance as she leveled her gun. The window behind her glowed, light filtering into the painted stains of the glass. Chloe stood before her.

"Chloe!" Mireille heard her own voice choke from bewilderment. "This man is..?"

The girl in the green cloak blinked. "To kill anyone who tries to open the seal to Corsica's past. That was his duty."

The gun lowered. "And, you?"

"I do not assist in his duty. I also don't interfere."

Mireille looked at Chloe and felt her own voice attempt nonchalance. "Then why are you here?" Those violet eyes were relentness. "Don't tell me you're here for sight-seeing."

The eyes narrowed into little dark pools with glints of silver. "Corsica is a special place for me. To me.. and to that child."

"That child? You mean Kirika?"

"Yes." Chloe was motionless but Mireille could feel something building in her voice."She and I are special. She and I are the True Noir."

Ice. Ice in Mireille's veins. "Kirika is...the True Noir?"

"Yes."

The panels of stained-glass windows were luminous with color.

"I would like to tell you something."

Mireille tensed at Chloe's voice and her eyebrows knitted together. "I'm listening."

"When she decides to return, please don't be in her way. The one who will go on the pilgrimage with her...will be me." The collar of Chloe's cloak did not hide the pleasure in her voice.

Mireille fought for composure. Then her lips spread into a faint smile, almost with a hint of insinuation. "And if I say no?"

"I will kill you."

The had been no malice in Chloe's voice, only politeness. Mireille's voice caught at her throat.

Chloe was watching her. "I'm considering that I would like to be your friend."

"Friend?" Mireille's voice petered into a whisper.

"'Well..." The light slid across Chloe's hair. "Aren't you her friend?"

When Mireille didn't answer, Chloe continued eagerly, "Yes. I'm sure we can be." She lifted her head and smiled with the certainty of a child. "You are definitely Soldats' child."

A silence. Then Chloe turned away, her slight footsteps evaporating.

The coldness of the stone floor seeped into Mireille's legs. Her knees gave away and her unseeing eyes stared at where Chloe had stood.

"Soldat's child."

The sunlight burned into the glass, spreading into patterns of green, red, and yellow, until the jambs of the window muted the light into a halo. Mireille was alone. The body of the Soldat was slumped behind her.

- -

"I just _loved_ that shot they got of you with the stained-glass windows. They had full spotlights behind that thing." Chloe pulled the wig from her head and closed the door of Set 13 with her other hand as they stepped out. "You looked like an angel. _I_ never get to look like an angel."

"Well, you get all the cool-sounding, confident lines," answered Mireille, lifting her head as she squirted a few drops of lubricator into her eyes.

"Yeah, so?"

"_I_ never get any of those. I'm always the one who doesn't know what's going on, always the last to know. Which is why I just end up repeating everyone else's lines. Like an echo."

"Yeah, well, you're the confused, reluctant heroine with the dyed hair but looks like an angel and I'm the cool-sounding psycho who sounds like she just swallowed a tank of helium whole."

"Something like that." Mireille blinked rapidly and dropped the tiny plastic bottle back to her purse. "By the way, has Yuki Kajiura talked to you already?"

"She's the one doing the music, isn't she? About what?"

"About us singing for the soundtrack."

"Uh-uh. Image vocals again?"

"I think so. She phoned me last night in my trailer. She's planning solos; I'm going to sing...well, she hasn't figured out the lyrics yet...but I'm going to sing something to the tune of a piece called 'Salva Nos.' Haven't heard it."

"Haven't heard anything of the soundtrack either. Though I've heard music coming out of the editing room."

"You're going to sing something called 'Secret' and Kirika's going to sing to the tune of another background piece...it's something Latin too..." Mireille furrowed her brows. "Oh yes. 'Canta per me.' And Altena going to sing a lullaby of some sort."

"Mmm. So did she tell you when we'll be recording?"

"Um. Well, I told her I wouldn't be able to."

"Why not?"

Mireille coughed. "I can't sing."

"You _what?!_" Chloe looked utterly scandalized. "_No._"

"Yes."

"What - how did you manage to get into this business without the producers knowing?"

"Er, on the day of the audition, I told them I had a cold and I couldn't sing _yet_, and I suppose they thought there wasn't going to be a lot of singing done in this one anyway so they let me in."

"You're one gutsy girl, Mireille."

"If not a fool. So I told Yuki Kajiura that I couldn't sing-"

"_And?_"

"Getting there. And she said she understood, and she won't tell anyone..." A glower. "...and I hope _you_-"

"Let a bolt of lightning strike me if I do. Does Kirika know?"

"I suppose she will sooner or later. She has a creepy way of finding things out about you. Anyway, so Yuki Kajiura understood, it would be off-record, and she said she could just tape me saying some of the lines with the music, and she'll try to explain it to the producers as some artistic thing."

"You're one gutsy _and_ lucky girl, Mireille."

"Yeah, she's an angel. I'm guessing that recording's going to be done during post-prod."

"More work."

"At least we're working." Mireille shielded her eyes from the sun. "Want to go to the commissionary?"

"Yeah, I could use a bite before the food's all gone."

"That's because the extras get to eat before we do."

"Hah. Explains why all the tuna sandwiches are gone when we get there and there's nothing left but crackers and raisins."

"That's showbiz for you."

"_Love_ your red blouse, by the way. Have I ever told you that?"

**fin**


End file.
